Polemic, humour and trivia from a mythical land where neither the devil nor the Daily Mail have all the best tunes.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Censorship Sucks - 1 in an occasional series

A recent ruling by Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, censured a BBC children's television show because one of the presenters wore a T shirt with the legend 'Morning Wood'. The BBC argued that the presenter's name was Dominic Wood and the show went out at 9.00 in the morning, hence 'Morning Wood'. Ofcom said yes but the phrase also has a sexual meaning and shouldn't have appeared on children's television. They added that none of the young viewers would have known the sexual meaning but that this was no defence. I rather doubt this latter point, given that the onset of puberty will soon be halfway through watching an episode of Bob the Builder. But on Ofcom's argument every possible double meaning, however obscure, would have to be removed from children's television.
Now fast forward to this Saturday's edition of The X Factor (son of Pop Idol) on ITV. Presenter Kate Thornton introduced Sharon Osbourne as "the mother of all mothers." Kids all over Britain must have been falling off the sofa laughing at this, perhaps to the bafflement of their parents. Sharon Osbourne also had a baffled look as she tried to work out whether Kate Thornton was taking the piss. Then zap to ITV2 where a female contestant said she liked one of the male contestants because he was "well hung and not hung like a moth." (I think that's what she said. I didn't know moths were hung at all but I'm about to put the lights on and open the windows to find out). This was still early evening television with lots of young viewers.
It would be interesting to test Ofcom's logic by reporting these two comments.
I won't, because I've recently complained about Clarkson's German joke and they'd probably file me under 'nutter'.